Richard Rodriguez

4 Pages

1013 Words

Thoroughly reading through Rodriguez’s essay “Achievement for Desire,” I
became more disturbed by the way he carelessly set aside his family and heritage through
his drive for success Through his desire for achievement, he lost in the ties with family,
and the connection to his long lost childhood he once portrayed. Richard raced to the end
of education with so much drive and such a long for success that “it’s consequent price---
the loss” (Richard Rodriguez, pg.566) didn’t ever seem to cross is mind, until the end.
Everything that one wants comes with a sacrifice, or a consequence on the flip
side. Rodriguez’s consequences were the loss of family, loss of a childhood, and in the
midst he lost who he really was and where he came from. As a vulnerable adolescent
Rodriguez really had no ground to stand on, he was being shaped by the pull of two
exceptionally strong forces. Two very opposite worlds were not meant for intermingle.
The desire for the world into education became too strong that for him something had to
give. Someone so young and so focused in their ways cannot keep a balance between the
two cultures. In conclusion to things, Rodriguez sees it as a loss that the alienation
between his family was so extensive. Although at the end of education he
became bold enough to long for the past, giving him a certain admiration for that loss.
Rodriguez refers to himself as a “scholarship boy,” (Rodriguez, pg. 569) a
description created by Richard Hoggart. Rodriguez’s interests and big ideas were entirely
different from those at home. Leaving no choice but for there to be disagreement within
the exchanges of family life. Through studies, Rodriguez creates a separation from the
“normal” home life. The back bone at home never existed for him.
Although his mother and father pushed him along every step of the way, his ambition a
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